Stuck on 308 Literally!

[mac128k]

I've prepped a lot of 223 and some 45 without any trouble. Tried my hand at some once fired (by me) 308 tonight and hit a wall.

Lyman decapping and sizing die for 308.
RCBS Rock Chucker.
Remington brass lubed.

The brass is getting stuck at the very end of the down stroke on my press. It's leaving wear marks on the brass and will not deprime the brass. I've followed the directions of the die set and tried many adjustments on the die without luck.

The measurement at the head is .468 vs .458 near the shoulder which seems right. My table top is flexing trying to move this (need to beef it up, but still). Am I just not putting enough muscle into it? Is it possible that the die is bad?

Given I am so new, I suspect I am missing something obvious.

[damndave]

Are you lubing inside the case necks? I know when I do 223 with very little to no case neck lube is is not a problem, but with 308 you definitely need to.

Make sure your dies are clean too.

[Solus]

I use hornady one shot case lube and it works great. Also Lehmen works just as well. But I lube in and out of the cases. I also spray some into the die and let it dry before starting

[devster55]

What he said!

[OldShooter32]

One Shot inside the neck & die, but a light coat of RCBS case lube -- NOT on the shoulder of the case -- and you should have minimal force to full-length resize. Check your die position to be sure you aren't binding the press.
.308 is a great round and reloading should be a breeze.

[milw50717]

If you are using the 308 in a bolt action you may also get away with just neck sizing, which will also make things easier

[Bill Steele]

I've prepped a lot of 223 and some 45 without any trouble. Tried my hand at some once fired (by me) 308 tonight and hit a wall.

Lyman decapping and sizing die for 308.
RCBS Rock Chucker.
Remington brass lubed.

The brass is getting stuck at the very end of the down stroke on my press. It's leaving wear marks on the brass and will not deprime the brass. I've followed the directions of the die set and tried many adjustments on the die without luck.

The measurement at the head is .468 vs .458 near the shoulder which seems right. My table top is flexing trying to move this (need to beef it up, but still). Am I just not putting enough muscle into it? Is it possible that the die is bad?

Given I am so new, I suspect I am missing something obvious.

What lube are you using?

Is the die new?

[mac128k]

Brand new die. Using the Dillon spray lube.

I didn't lube inside the neck or die so I'll try that tomorrow. I can't see it being the cause though because I tried it with the pin and neck sizer totally removed and it was still stuck. Unless I am missing the concept (totally possible for a noob) the neck doesn't even come into play in that case.

There is a ball on the pin that looks like it sizes the neck. It moves past the neck just fine. I originally suspected the pin was missing the flash hole which is why I tried it without the pin at all.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

[Bill Steele]

Brand new die. Using the Dillon spray lube.

I didn't lube inside the neck or die so I'll try that tomorrow. I can't see it being the cause though because I tried it with the pin and neck sizer totally removed and it was still stuck. Unless I am missing the concept (totally possible for a noob) the neck doesn't even come into play in that case.

There is a ball on the pin that looks like it sizes the neck. It moves past the neck just fine. I originally suspected the pin was missing the flash hole which is why I tried it without the pin at all.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

You got the right lube. The Dillon spray and Imperial Sizing Wax are the only lubes I will use on bottle neck cases. Never a stuck case with either.

Right now, frankly it looks like the die. I would give Lyman a call first thing, maybe email a picture of the case to them, it seems like maybe it didn't get honed.

Good luck.

[sdkevin]

Right now, frankly it looks like the die. I would give Lyman a call first thing, maybe email a picture of the case to them, it seems like maybe it didn't get honed.

Agreed.

[Colt562]

Just to confirm the brass is actually 308?

[mac128k]

You got the right lube. The Dillon spray and Imperial Sizing Wax are the only lubes I will use on bottle neck cases. Never a stuck case with either.

Right now, frankly it looks like the die. I would give Lyman a call first thing, maybe email a picture of the case to them, it seems like maybe it didn't get honed.

Good luck.

Thanks. I'll get in touch with them.

Just to confirm the brass is actually 308

One of the first things I checked
Both brass and all parts of the die are labeled 308. I even tried another brand brass but it did the same thing.

[mac128k]

So I haven't called Lyman yet but I did work on the problem a little...

I mounted the press on a new stand to remove the flexing table from the equation. Lubed the cases again, the necks and the die.

Things seemed to be going better and I thought I had it licked. A few cases took more muscle than I would have thought was normal but some were about as easy as my 223.

And then I got the one that probably ruined my die (not that it was great to begin with!) and maybe my shell holder. I should have left it alone.

[Ferrum]

I bet it's not ruined... Case is probably mangled, but die is probably fine.

[Bill Steele]

The good news is the die may have needed a honing anyway, just send it to Lyman and tell them about your previous problems. It will likely come back nice and shiny, problem solved.